1 Aug 2012

A little bit about Mt Eden cafes

4 cafes 2 hours.
The intention was to have lunch with Miss Shell (the one who ate two brownies at Banquet Night) at a cafe I've been wanting to try for a while. But when we were seated at Ironique in Mt Eden, I hit an awesome idea.
"Oh my gosh. . . Why don't we have lunch here, then dessert and coffee somewhere else!!"
We got really excited. I love how this girl is into food as much as I am, although her taste is slightly more sophisticated, being an ex-Dio girl and Remueran :P

1. Ironique
448 Mt Eden Rd
Open 7am-10pm

Play on words, this cafe is truly unique with its iron decoratives.

Someone told me to check out the toilet, so I did

So cool!

I was also surprised that they have pink himalayan salt! This salt is supposedly good for your health and better than normal salt because it contains minerals and is not processed like table salt.

And the food. . .

Spring onion and cheese stuffed kumara $8.50

Steak and bacon pide $9

(pronounced pe-day, they told us)

The kumara was good, but the pide even better, we both agreed. The bread was tasty, the steak perfectly cooked and spot-on bread to filling ratio. Served with aioli and delicious onion chutney.

Ironique had great ambience, decor and food. Menu food was a little bit pricey but I guess it's standard for Mt Eden. Friendly staff, they didn't mind me taking photos and asking about what kind of chutney it was.

We found it humorous how the waiter said Miss Shell's nails were nice.

Next time: Cinnamon and vanilla waffles with berries and cream.

2. Olaf's

1 Stokes Road

7am-6pm Weekdays

7am-5pm Weekends

We were both really excited about sampling the ice creams at Casa Del Gelato. But when we got there-

Miss Shell cried.

We went to Olaf's to try their cabinet food instead. Olaf's is a bakery as well as a cafe; spacious, had an upmarket feel.

I thought it was cute how they put blankets for the outside tables, it was a cold afternoon.

On the way to Olaf's, we walked past City Cake Company and saw these cupcakes. Wow.

Olaf's had a delectable, irresistible range of pastries, bread, cakes, slices. I could not decide. Neither could Miss Shell, as she got two;
Blueberry tart and almond bundt cake , $5 each.

I saw this.

White espresso torte. Yes.

"Would you like two forks with that?"
No. I want it all to myself.

I joke, of course I shared it.
It was essentially a tiramisu cake. Sponge cake, mascarpone and cream cheese mixture, a hint of coffee and shaved chocolate over the whole thing. The confident me thinks it will be simple to duplicate.

It was a little bit dry, but Miss Shell thought it was gorgeous.

Again, nice interiors!

Next time, I will try the fresh looking bread behind the counter, made right in store.

3. Casa Del Gelato

416 Mt Eden Road

1pm-10pm

Okay, so Miss Shell insisted that we see if the gelato place is open after going to Olaf's. It was!